Promises Kept
by dsnyclayfan1124
Summary: A murder hits too close to home for Beckett and she is deeply affected by the case. Castle makes a promise to help her find justice for the victim no matter what which leads to a transcontinental adventure for our favorite duo.  Spoilers for 3x22 LA ep


**Promises Kept** Chapter 1

_Summary_: A murder hits too close to home for Beckett and she is deeply affected by the case. Castle makes a promise to help her find justice for the victim no matter what which leads to a transcontinental adventure for our favorite duo. (This is based on the 3x22 LA episode promo and spoilers).

_Spoilers_: 3x22 LA Episode (promo pics and spoilers released).. this was written before the sneak peeks or episode aired. This is just my interpretation of events

**A/N:** I got a little discouraged from my last fan fic, but I thought I would try this again as I got the sudden inspiration to write this story after watching the LA promo for the hundredth time. This could be a one shot but I have ideas on how to make this into a short story if there is interest. I wanted to get this first chapter out before sneak pics were released, so it's not beta'd at this time so all mistakes are my own. Please read and review. :) ..

** I don't own any of the characters, they all are the beloved property of ABC.

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><p>To say the last 72 hrs in the life of Kate Beckett was not typical would be a gross understatement to describe her recent transcontinental adventure. But to explain how she came about almost being arrested and how she ultimately ended up sharing a cozy Beverly Hills suite with none other than her partner Richard Castle, you first had to start at the very beginning and the promise that started it all.<p>

The journey begins when Kate's evening of catching up on her recorded episodes of Temptation Lane curled up on her couch was interrupted when she got a late evening call from Lanie telling her she needed to come down to an alley in the middle of Harlem as soon as she could. Lanie offered no information about the victim or the crime but just emphasized that her presence was needed as soon possible. Esposito & Ryan were already on the way, along with Castle. Beckett thought it was strange that no details were being provided to her as typically she was given some indication of the nature of the crime scene she was headed to. She quickly changed, grabbed her coat and hailed the first taxi she saw.

The next indication she got that this was going to be no ordinary crime was when she went to cross the yellow tape she was immediately stopped by her boss. She could see her friends in the background looking very serious which was another tell tale sign. Her heart started to race as worried about what this could this mean.

"Sir, what brings you out here?" Beckett asked in confusion as she knew that he only came out to the most high profile crimes.

"When I first heard who the victim was in this crime, I wanted to be here for you. I know this is going to be difficult and I want you to be prepared for what you will find beyond this tape." Captain Montgomery said calmly.

Beckett began to panic as she immediately thought of her father and wondered could he be the victim? Is that why there were being so cryptic and why they all looked so solemn? She took a deep breath and allowed theCaptain to continue.

"Beckett... The victim it's Mike Royce, he was shot tonight at point blank range in the alley behind us. So I'm warning you it's not pretty, if you don't want to see him in that condition, I wouldn't blame you. But I thought it was important that you know what happened. I didn't want to keep this from you and I want to give you the opportunity to lead up this investigation as I know Royce would want New York's finest detective solving his murder."

Beckett felt her heart sink as she struggled to process the shock of Royce's death. But she knew she had to try to remain strong and try to focus. "I can do this sir.. I NEED to do this".

Captain Montgomery nodded his head in understanding and moved out of the way so she could now pass.

She crossed under the yellow tape and made her way over to area where Royce's dead body laid. Nobody said a word as she approached the scene, they all knew how much he meant to her at one point in her life and wanted to give her the opportunity to grieve. As she kneeled down to the ground where she gently touched the now ice-cold cheek of her former mentor she was flooded with guilt and choked up with emotion as a single tear trailed down the side of her face. Although she was trying her best to stay strong she could feel the walls start to crumble as she underestimated the impact of seeing his murdered body.

It was Castle that made the first move of the group to stoop down next to her and place a reassuring hand gently on her shoulder, as a silent reminder he was there for her. Upon his action, she looked away from Mike's body and glanced at the pool of blood next to him not willing to face anyone as though she was feeling ashamed for the confession she was about to give.

"I knew he was released last month from prison. He called me when he first got out wanting to apologize for the way everything went down last fall. He wanted make amends for the lying and the betrayal. He said that he was going to whatever it took to earn back my trust and respect. I told him I never wanted to see or hear from him again. That I meant every word I said that when made the decide to choose greed over honor he destroyed any bond that we ever shared."

Beckett paused as she struggled to find the words to continue as the tears had started to fall freely now.

"I told him he was DEAD to me and to not contact me ever again."

Castle spoke softly to Beckett as he ran his gently rubbed his hand up and down her back to try to offer his partner some of physical comfort. "There is no way you could have known this was going to happen. You can't blame yourself."

Beckett turned around to look Castle in the eyes. "But I can, he called me yesterday. I didn't answer because I thought he was just going to try to make excuses and try to get me to change my mind about forgiving him. When I didn't answer he left me a cryptic voicemail saying he had stumbled onto something important he had to share immediately, something that was going to make heads roll at the highest of levels and that he wanted me to come meet him as I was the only person he felt he could trust this information with."

"Beckett... it's still not..."

She interrupted Castle and stood up as now self-anger seemed to take over the grief.

"Don't try to tell me this isn't my fault. If I had listened to him to see what he had to say. if I had just trusted him that this wasn't some trick to win back my respect for him. Hell if I just had called him back at all maybe I could have prevented this and talked some sense into him. Don't you see that whatever he was looking into recently probably got him killed tonight? I turned my back on him when he needed me and he paid the ultimate price. He made some pretty bad mistakes but he didn't deserve this fate."

Castle hated to see Beckett in so much pain, he wished he could do something to help ease her guilt and numb the pain. So he did the only thing he thought would help.

He pulled her into a hug and allowed her to fully break down in his arms. Esposito, Ryan, Lanie and the Captain all respectfully walked away to allow Castle/Beckett to have their private moment. They all knew that he was the only one who could help her through this difficult time. It was heartbreaking sight to see the normally fearless Kate Beckett completely destroyed by the unexpected events of tonight.

As she sobbed in his arms, he continued to hold her close and he gently whispered in her ear. "Kate, I swear to you that I will do anything and everything to help you catch the killer. We will find justice for Royce no matter what it takes, no matter how much it costs. I promise you this."

Something about the way he so intimately said her name, the way his voice trembled as he delivered his heartfelt promise to her along with the soothing feeling she got as he gently stroked her back offered Kate some comfort in this tragedy. It was still so frightening to her how seemingly perfect Castle could be in knowing exactly what to say and how to act to make her feel better about herself. Logically she knew these feelings shouldn't be normal given that she never felt this same level of intimacy with Josh who was supposed to be her boyfriend and she thought possibly her one and done. She knew she should feel guilty that she felt more complete being held in her partner's embrace than her own boyfriend.

It was at that moment she came to some important realizations about herself. Why when it came down to the hardest moments in her life, why was it always Castle to whom she turned to? Why was he the first person she'd call with important news ? Why was it his voice she longed to hear at night to put herself at ease when she was bothered and couldn't sleep? Why was it his arms that offered the most comfort when she hurt the most? Why was it that when they almost died a few weeks back somehow having him be the last face she saw was perfectly acceptable for her? Most importantly she questioned why didn't she realize this sooner and how did their muse/writer relationship seemingly develop into something much more meaningful?

She pulled herself back from Castle as she struggled to compose herself to focus on the investigation as that was the most important focus right now. Although being in Castle's arms stirred up a wealth of emotions and awareness of behaviors that had gone previously un-noticed she couldn't allow herself to be distracted by her feelings and the ramification of acknowledging publicly what she just now came to realize about herself.

"Thank you." she said softly as she tried to muster up a slight smile to let him know she was going to be ok.

Castle smiled back as he gently wiped a stray tear from under her eye and simply replied, "Always"...

They exchanged one more deep gaze into each others eyes as both understood the deeper meaning behind that simple word before continuing on to what they did best, moving forward pretending nothing had change. Any conversations about the impact or meaning behind their latest heartfelt exchange would have to come at a later date. Right now they had to focus on the task at hand, they had a murder to solve and Castle had a promise he fully intended to keep.


End file.
